I've never pretended that Hive is some perfect paradise and have often compared it to the wild west. We have outlaws and vigilantes as there is no police force to control things. They are not obliged to explain themselves, but if they can make things transparent then it would get them more support. It should be as easy to off a blacklist as it is to get on it if you are not actively harming Hive. I think Hivewatchers tend to limit themselves to specific forms of abuse, but I have been part of Hive-DR (formerly Steemflagrewards) for a long time and we act as individuals when we consider it necessary, but it is a personal choice.
We also have some whales who feel they should cancel out certain big votes. As stakeholders they can do what they like. In some cases I have seen they do not wipe out all the rewards.
Generally 'policing' Hive is not a profitable exercise and can earn you some flack, but someone needs to do it. We ought to work with those who take this job on and find ways to do it better. It can sometimes get personal, but that is inevitable with people who have strong feelings. Knee-jerk reactions should be avoided.
There are not rules here and we get to decide where rewards should go. I think downvotes are a legitimate part of that and I will keep using them where I see fit.
Absolutely Steve. I use my downvotes for what I see as unfriendly behaviour. There is a point I would like to make however... here on the Hive code is law. It’s automatically baked into the blockchain. Comment ranking clearly is built into its function and therefore I vote my but mostly others comments as I see fit. Self-appointed authorities have no say over what I decide to do and how I decide to spread good wil and gain traction with an eye to social capital. I give away thousands of Hive (at much higher valuations than currently priced) through my initiatives and I do it freely. Anything “gained” from a comment rank is easily given away. You can check my transaction logs to determine this for yourself.
I don’t think what @HiveWatchers and @Spaminator are doing is healthy for this blockchain. How integrity is maintained is just as important as how it is identified and alerted.
These people are doing little to help Hive actually grow and are in fact contributing to its contracted and weakening state.
I will not join hands with people who’s minds and methods are harming this blockchain. If you take a step back to a further vantage point you may see what I am pointing out.
I know you for a clear mind here on Hive and I have been following you for some time Steve.
And yes... I do respect you... that is why I am taking the time to talk with you about this matter. It needs some serious consideration.
I’m away on vacation with my family... so if I delay or don’t respond that is why.
I hope you can see where I am coming from... and if you have time... please read through the comments and my responses to get a bigger picture of what I see and my vision for Hive and it’s community.
Friendliness is imperative to hives success...
@wil.metcalfe
Code may be law, but user votes decide rewards. I opt to never self-vote as I will not decide what I get. There are options to change the sort order of comments.
Should we ignore the work HW have done in dealing with plagiarists and identity thieves? I am not saying they had a valid case in micro-flagging your stuff, but I will not say they are always wrong or enemies of the good in Hive. I do think they could have a better attitude at times and not be pig-headed.
What we do here is public and we will be judged. I always bear that in mind. I may piss off a few people, but I hope the net impact is positive.
I like you attitude and awareness Steve. Your a good man. I can tell.
But I think that if we don’t want people to rank their comments and other people’s comments it shouldn’t be built into the code. Putting together a human task force so enforce a policy that isn’t supported by the actual code is foolhardy and unfriendly at best.
I have seen to much of what @hivewatchers and @spaminator have been up to to go along with their approach to dealing with (yes!) very important issues.
How things are implemented matter just as much as how those things are identified. Having human elements tasked with something that code could automatically and easily do is only harming the blockchain and it’s community of people.
Labeling things as self voting does little to address the fact that it is lawful by code to rank our comments for higher visibility. It has little to do with more than that.
These entities have no right to tell us what we can or can’t do as owners of it is hard coded into the actual code.
If they want to change this about how the blockchain operates their efforts would be far better spent implementing that change at a fundamental level.
Therefore... there is a reason why the code operates the way it does... and any effort by a group of humans attempting to police and self administe”justice” on our blockchain is harmful and a deterrent and a detriment to all success on this blockchain.
This has very clearly got to stop.